Technology can be used to support higher-order thinking in many different ways. Some higher-order thinking skills are complex problem solving, focus on real-world problems, and meeting educational objectives at the top of "Blooms Taxonomy". The new list of "Blooms Taxonomy", in order of least important to most important, is; Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create. You could use it to show students something that they may not be able to do every day. For example, Google Earth. In google earth you can show students a different part of the world from the classroom. Along with exploring a different part of the world you can go back in time, to 1998, and see how that particular place of the world may have changed with time. You can also, explore mars, the moon, or constellations. This is something that can become very interactive for the students which will enhance their learning.
Using Technology to Affirm Diversity
You can use technology to affirm diversity in the classroom by having students explore different cultures around the world. This is extremely beneficial for students because now more than ever different cultures are interacting. You can use "webcams" to have face-to-face contact even though you are thousands of miles apart. Another way technology can affirm diversity is by exploring different websites that provide audio files of people discussing their own different cultures. A specific example you could use to affirm technology in the classroom is to use "Google Language Tools" to explore different languages. This would prove to be beneficial because you could bring up a website that may be in a different language and possibly talk about their culture and "Google Language Tools" would translate that website into a language they can understand. Then, students could explore other related websites about that culture and investigate on their own. This would allow students to feel more engaged with a different culture instead of just reading about it out of a textbook.
Using Technology to Support All Learners
Since I am plan on going into the field of Special Education this aspect is particularly interesting to me. Special Needs students often get overlooked when referring to technology. Some students just do not have the cognitive ability to use technology. Some ways special needs students can use technology are by using devices that will help them. Such as, pens that you can drag across words and the pen will pronounce the words to them. A specific example of how technology can be used to support all learners are "e-books". These "e-books" are books that are displayed on a small screen and can be played so the student can listen to the book. These books could be especially beneficial to blind students particularly if Braille books are unavailable.
Using Technology to Affirm Diversity
Using Technology to Support All Learners